Police in the central province of Nghe An on Sunday arrested a forest ranger for allegedly being involved in the timber truck overturn that killed 10 people and injured five last week, Tuoi Tre reported.

Nguyen Kim Hung, 26, staff of the Quy Hop Forest Rangers' Station under the management board of Pu Huong Reserve, was the second to be arrested in the tragedy, after Vuong Dinh Hanh, 27, the truck's driver.

According to the newspaper, that day Nghe An's social crimes investigation team (PC45) also asked Dao Cong Thang, chief of the Quy Hop station, and Phan Si Tuan, who is at helm of the Nga Mi station, to be present at PC45's center on Monday for interrogation.

Initial information indicates that both Thang and Hung were on the truck when the accident occurred on December 7.

Thang allegedly left the accident scene in a car but left his badge behind. After reporting the accident to the management board on December 9, he was unreachable. Later he was reported to be at his sister's home in Nghi Loc District.

Nguyen Tho Canh, director of Nghe An's agriculture department, quoted Hung's report as saying that on December 6, Thang asked Hung to transport timber as ordered by some leader.

While the management board asked him to state the leader's name, Hung was arrested, Canh added.

Meanwhile, in his report, Thang said they transported the timber for Trinh Thanh Long, vice director of the management board, according to Tuoi Tre.

Previously Le Cong Binh, chief of the provincial Forest Management Department, told Thanh Nien that the timber confiscated from the truck had been smuggled.

Locals said some people had removed half of the timber after the accident occurred, Tuoi Tre reported.

The deadly accident happened on National Highway 48C in the mountainous district of Con Cuong at around 3:30 a.m. after reportedly slipping down a slope. Seven men died on the spot and three others died on the way to a nearby hospital.

Preliminary investigation found that the 12 men sitting on the timber at the back were crushed under the massive weight.